A time to weep - 40,000 bodies

People expected thousands, maybe upwards of 10,000 dead.  The mortuaries have just been told to expect 40,000 bodies.

http://www.t-g.com/story/1116806.html

"DMort is telling us to expect up to 40,000 bodies," Dan Buckner said, quoting officials with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, a volunteer arm of Homeland Security.

No wonder the press is being excluded from picture taking.  How does one accurately capture the impact of 40,000 dead?

Will a Viet Nam type of memorial be needed?  

How does one commemorate 40,000 dead resulting from one single disasterous event?  I suppose the Japanese might know.

•  40,000 bodies plus...

  I neglected to mention this other really sad element, in the above posting:

  The 40,000 estimate does "not include the number of disinterred remains that have been displaced from ... mausoleums," Buckner told the Times-Gazette Monday.

  The morticians may need to be there for months, perhaps up to 4 months.  

  Not even the previously dead RIP in New Orleans.  Too sad to be mad now, but I want to not forget one question.

  What were our Culture of Life advocates thinking when they neglected funding levy repairs and ensuring FEMA can actually respond to an emergency?  
  

  by antirove on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 09:31:27 PM PDT

  •  Great quote

    Not even the previous dead can Rest In Peace in New Orleans. Wish they could join us in the revolt

    by snoopydawg on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 09:57:00 PM PDT

•  i believe 40000 is low

  why?  Because i don't think as many evacuated from gulf coast communities as evacuated from NO.  I don't think anybody knows how many decided to tough it out in Southern Miss. or outlying NO parishes.

  I hope I'm wrong.  

  Also, many of the bodies may have been hurricane exhumed corpses, so number of bodies found may not reflect on how many were hurricane deaths.  Its going to be a while before all of this gets sorted out.

  Main thing:  No excuses.  The govt owes us apologies.  The govt owes us an investigation.  The govt owes us some dept heads on a platter complete with apples stuffed in lying mouths.

  by CO4Kerry2004 on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 09:32:16 PM PDT

•  The worst part is..........

  that the bodies cannot be buried. They usually bury above ground in that region. That can't happen, so expect mass cremation, if not funeral pyres.

  by stevegilliard on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 09:32:18 PM PDT

  •  Remember New Orleans

    Let's hope that number is wrong.  I wish I could say it was none, but unfortunately this country re-elected Bush and as a consequence people died.  I hope the number is no higher than 10,000 - even that too high, but there is nothing we can do about it.  I understand Gov. Blanco is trying to buy land for a Kartina cemetery.  I hope that is the case and at least these dead get more dignity than a mass grave.  They deserve better than that.

    We must not forget that it took Congress less than 24 hours to re-convene and Bush less than 4 hours to respond to Terri Schivo.  It certainly illustrates their priorities.  When political points can be scored with their base they will stop at nothing to pander to them.  But when it's a bunch of poor black people, well, let them fend for themselves, after all it's their own fault, right???  It's unfortunate that that thinking rules this great land of ours.  I think "Remember New Orleans" must be our battle call for 2006.  We need to make certain Americans understand completely that Democrats are far better at protecting them than the thieving Republican's are.

    by sandzen on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 10:10:04 PM PDT

•  That was on here yesterday.

  It's just the number Homeland Stupidity told the morgues to expect, though. And how would they know? And when has Homeland Stupidity ever been right, anyway?

  by SensibleShoes on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 09:33:17 PM PDT

•  I think it's low

  Go look at some of the street by street sattelite images at http://www.wlbt.com/

  Pick a town.

  Now think of your own neighborhood, if it's medium density, single family, etc.  I don't know the census data for permanent resident families along the Gulf, but you can throw in some summer home people and think there might have been +/- 1 to 2 people that did not evacuate per house.  

  Look at the pictures again.  The complete devastation - down to the foundations - goes inland for MILES.

  More than 40,000.

  by skwimmer on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 09:36:50 PM PDT

•  Memorial

  Whoever's design gets picked for the memorial, I think it's safe to say that nobody connected with the current administration should have a say in it.

  by The Bartender on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 09:39:42 PM PDT

•  And now the biological time bomb triggers:

  News of death from infections starts to come in.

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050907/ts_afp/usweather_050907174611

  The five had been killed by vibrio vulnificus, "a bacteria that can enter somebody through a cut, a scratch or a wound," Skinner told AFP, adding the elderly or those with a fragile immune system were most at risk.

  by antirove on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 09:57:00 PM PDT

•  How deep can denial go?

  40,000+ dead.

  'What didn't go right?'

  We're seeing bottomless denial.

  by JVictor on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 10:00:04 PM PDT

•  I have no opinion on what a

  memorial to the victims of Katrina should look like.

  But I know where it should be.

  Right next door to the Presidential Library of GWB.

  (I've just discovered that I can't read 'Presidential Library of GWB' without feeling slightly nauseated. Sorry if this has the same effect on you.)

  by ex republican on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 10:01:28 PM PDT

•  The Dead

  All that money that Bush claims he's going to get for the affected areas will not help the dead who died not from the hurricane but from federal neglect.

  by librarian1942 on Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 10:09:44 PM PDT

•  I think it is way outside

  my most reasonable guess is 10 to 15,000.  However, between looting, murders, and all the deaths due to neglect and incompetence in rescuing them, it could be as high as 20,000, which would be my outside estimate.
  I believe about 100,000 people are missing, and many of those will eventually turn up.

  by NYFM on Thu Sep 08, 2005 at 08:10:16 AM PDT